Integrate & Reflect
Harvesting a Year of Vitality
This year the LAB held a question that kept circling back to me: “What does it look like to steward vitality— not just when life is smooth, but through inevitable cycles?” Because vitality isn’t linear. It expands, contracts, dips, and returns. The movement is the work.
One of my biggest learnings this year was how deeply interdependent one’s five energy tanks are: physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and social. I’ve been working with clients and myself on these energy sources for years, but in 2025 the connections became unmistakably real. A poor night’s sleep didn’t just make me tired; it clouded my attention, sharpened my irritability, and made my social interactions a tad bit strained. Conversely, a meaningful conversation could restore my mental clarity and nudge my emotional tank from ‘flat’ to ‘feisty’. The tanks don’t sit in isolation. They talk to one another.
The emotional tank, in particular, revealed just how much load it carries in a VUCA world—Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity. Emotional regulation used to feel like a differentiator. Now, I see it as strategic leadership. It steadies attention, sharpens boundaries, and keeps us from slipping into overthinking or amygdala-driven spirals.
And yet, here’s the honest part: I’m not immune to the lows of life cycles. For instance, March was a low point: I experienced scattered attention, emotional exhaustion, and a sense of slogging through quicksand. But small, intentional energetic practices brought me forward— not in a dramatic sweep, but more padam, padam: one foot, then the next.
A couple more big reflections surfaced this year:
1. Understanding what’s actually urgent versus what I’ve invented.
I learned to distinguish between the deadlines and demands I impose on myself versus real bottlenecks that would cause harm or inconvenience for others. Sometimes momentum matters; sometimes ideas need “space” to breathe. That discernment, supported by curiosity as my co-pilot, has been liberating.
2. Questioning the stories I’ve carried since childhood.
As kids we create stories to make sense of what we can’t fully understand. Those innocent interpretations calcify, and decades later we’re still guided, consciously and unconsciously, by narratives that simply aren’t true. This year I recognized several that weren’t serving me. Releasing them required courage and self-compassion: thanking the inner child who once needed them, and choosing a story more aligned with who I am now.
These reflections shape how I’m closing the year: not with grand resolutions, but with practical integration. Here’s a December toolkit offering to support your own grounding and growth:
1) Start with a Vitality Assessment
Before you can reflect on interdependence, it would be wise to get familiar with your tanks. Use this Vitality Assessment for a quick snapshot of where you’re steady and where you’re stretched.
2) Reclaim Quadrant 2 Time
Protect one recurring weekly block of time on your calendar for energy maintenance: rest, reflection, or connection. Treat it like your most strategic appointment.
3) Build Micro-Practices
Choose one micro-practice for each tank (2–5 minutes) and do it consistently. Examples:
Physical: Take a screen-free 10-minute walk.
Emotional: Name three feelings as you’re brushing your teeth.
Mental: Set your timer for a 5-minute focused work block + single-tasking.
Spiritual: Notice one small delight daily (the “heart-burst” moment).
Social: Send one genuine check-in text or thank-you note.
4) Notice the Stories
Journal one morning about the recurring “shoulds” that guide you (“I should always…”, “If only they would…”), and then ask: “Does this story still serve my vitality?” If not, draft a kinder hypothesis and test it for a week.
5) Design a Seasonal Check-in
Make the year cyclical. Create quarterly reviews (Start/Stop/Continue/Realign) to see what’s working and what’s calcifying into armor. Anchor these four sessions into your calendar today! Use these check-ins to reallocate energy proactively.
Reflection is just one of the secret sauces to enhance a well-lived life. It demands we lift our head from the work-at-hand to gain perspective; it allows us to see what matters, what needs pruning, and what is ready to grow. December isn’t a finish line; it’s an integration month— a moment to harvest the learning and choose the next right step.
If you’ve been part of the LAB this year, thank you. This community is where practice meets curiosity, and where small experiments compound into real change. If you’ve been watching from the edges, consider this an invitation to step in and be part of the next chapter.
Finally, because I know you’ll ask, here are three reflection prompts to sit with this week:
Which energy tank surprised me this year by demanding attention?
What practice, small though it seemed, actually moved the needle?
What story am I ready to update?
Padam, padam. Forward, gently and deliberately.
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